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The Halachical Status of the Herodian Dynasty Copyright © 2002 Yakov Shafranovich. All rights reserved. Do not distribute or copy without permission of the author. The Halachic Status of the Herodian Dynasty By Yakov Shafranovich (torah /at/ shaftek [dot] org) [WARNING: THIS IS “SVORAH V'PILPUL” AND SHOULD NOT BE RELIED ON AS A VALID HALACHIC OPINION.] I. Introduction. The era of the second Temple was plagued with many difficulties for the Jewish people. When the Greeks conquered the Land of Israel, they brought with them a culture that was attractive to a large segment of the Jewish People1. Many Jews became Hellenized and left the faith of their fathers, there were many caught in between who were unsure of their beliefs 2. The Seleucid dynasty that was ruling at the time was very adamant in forcing the Hellenistic culture upon their subjects. This was expressed by King Antiochus IV (“the wicked”) more than any other king. He decided to uproot Judaism by forbidding its practice and defiling the holy Temple. A revolt sanctioned by the Sages begun at that time and was initially headed by Matisyahu, the founder of the Hasmonean family. After his death a year later, his sons who eventually became kings headed it. However, the monarchy of the Hasmoneans was not to last: they were punished for taking away the kingship from the Tribe of Judah3. After the events of Chanukah, many descendants of the Hellenized Jews joined the Sadducees (which were a sect that preached what they believed as the “modern” version of Judaism that only accepted the Written Torah)4; those who remained loyal to the Torah became known as the Pharisees5. The influence of the Sadducees and the Hellenists remained strong during the entire reign of the Hasmoneans. Matisyahu’s grandson, Jochanan Hyrcanus son of Shimon Macabbi, conquered many surrounding lands including the land of the Edom, descendents of Esau. He converted them to Judaism retaining them as slaves to the crown6. After his death, his son Judah Aristobolus ruled for a short time. After he died, his wife married his brother, Alexander Yannai, via levirate marriage7 and he became king. Over the years, the Hellenist and Sadducee elements within the Jewish nation strengthened themselves to the point that they were able to come out publicly during the reign to Alexander Yannai. The Talmud8 relates to us one of his most horrifying acts9: after being convinced 1 The Greek culture constitutes the bulk of today’s culture in fulfillment of the verse “May G-d extend Japheth” (Genesis 9:27). 2 In Chapter 24 of History of the Jewish People, Rabbi Rabinowitz states that one of the reasons for them becoming Hellenized was due to the influence of Yosef ben Tuvia who was appointed as a tax collector over the entire region by the Egyptian authorities. He employed many Jews in his service that had to go to the Greek cities to collect taxes from their inhabitants. As the result of that interaction, many of these Jewish tax collectors became Hellenists. In addition, the mere presence of these cities and their inhabitants had a tremendous negative impact on the Jewish people (See chapters 24-27). .(who seems to argue הילכות הנוכה Ramban (Genesis 49:10), Seder HaDoros; see Rambam in the beginning of 3 4 History tends to repeat itself; this is not unlike today’s vision of the Reform and Conservative movements to preach the “modern” version of Judaism. 5 See History of the Jewish People, Chapter 55 for discussion about this term. 6 See Ramban in Sefer HaGeulah (p.284 in Shavall edition) and Even Ezra (Genesis 27:40). 7 Aristobolus died without children and thus his wife, Shlomtzion, the sister of Tanna Shimon ben Shetach, became a Yevomah. Since the Hasmoneans did not have a halachical status of kings (which would forbid their queens to marry anyone else) Yannai was able to marry her through a levirate marriage before he became the High Priest )avoiding the prohibition of not marrying a virgin). [See History of the Jewish People, Chapter 59 and footnotes there]. 8 Kidushin 76a 9 See Josephus and others for details of his other actions. Page 1 of 7 Copyright © 2002 Yakov Shafranovich. All rights reserved. Do not distribute or copy without permission of the author. by an evil man named Eliezer ben Pavarya that the Sages were undermining his power10, Yannai commanded that the Sages should be executed. Many Sages were killed and others escaped to Egypt11. Eventually Rabbi Shimon Ben Shetach12 convinced Yannai to stop his campaign and the Sages were able to come back. The failure of the Hasmonean family to rule properly as illustrated by the actions of Yannai spelled the end of the Hasmonean dynasty and the independence of the Jewish nation13. After Yannai died, his wife Shlomtzion became the ruler. After her death, her two sons from Yanni, Aristobolus and Hyrcanus, started fighting over the throne and invited the Roman general, Pompey, to settle their dispute14. As soon as the Romans had their foot in the door, they stayed: Pompey appointed the weaker brother as king. After Aristobolus refused to accept the judgment of Pompey, Pompey used this as an excuse to conquer the Land of Israel. In the process, he captured Jerusalem and slaughtered many of its inhabitants. He also captured Aristobolus and his son Alexander, and took them in chains to Rome. Hyrcanus stayed in Jerusalem as the High Priest and Nasi of the newly conquered Roman province of Judea. The Jewish people were now under the power of Rome and were ruled by the Roman procurator in Damascus15. At the same time, an advisor of Hyrcanus named Antipater was becoming more and more powerful in the country. He and his sons exerted more and more influence politically as the Hasmoneans lost their influence. Both of these events were a fulfillment of the verse: “The stranger among you will ascend higher and higher, while you will descend lower and lower” (Deuteronomy 28:43). The reign of the Hasmoneans had a glorious start during the events of Chanukah when the Hasmoneans successfully fought off the Greeks and revived the spiritual state of the Jewish people. Nevertheless, it ended ignominiously at the hands of a slave named Herod who exterminated the family and reigned in their stead16. In addition, if that was not enough, he took the name of the Hasmoneans for himself and was associated with them to such extent that the Talmud17 found it necessary to rule that anyone from the House of the Hasmonens descended from slaves. The Talmud18 describes how Herod took power: “Herod was a slave of the house of the Hasmoneans. He had set his eyes on a certain young girl [from that family]. One day he heard a Heavenly voice that said: ‘Any slave that revolts now will succeed’. He rose and killed all of his masters but left that girl alive. When she saw that he wanted to marry her, she ascended to the roof and raised her voice saying: ’Whoever comes and says: I am descended from the house of the Hasmoneans is a slave, for no one was left from them except this maiden (herself) and this girl is hurling herself from the roof to the ground’ (then she killed herself)”. Herod and his descendants ruled the Land of Israel until the Second Temple was destroyed around 70 CE by the Roman hordes under the command of general Vespian and his son Titus19. Even though Herod and his descendents were not exemplary individuals, nevertheless G-d gave 10 There was a dispute to whether Yanni was able to serve as High Priest since his mother was captured by the Greeks during the war (see Rashi on Kidushin 76a). 11 Among those who escaped to Egypt was the Tanna Rabbi Yehoshua ben Prachiya, whose student named Yeshu left the faith (Sotah 46b). According to some opinions, many years later the story of Yeshu was used by Paul as the basis for Christianity. 12 He was a brother of the queen (Brochos 48a) 13 History of the Jewish Nation, Chapter 60. 14 See Sotah 49b, Bava Kama 82b and Menachos 54b where the Talmud elaborates on how they fought over Jerusalem. 15 History of the Jewish Nation, Chapters 62-64. 16 According to History of the Jewish People and Josephus, Herod captured and killed the Antigones, the son of Aristobolus, the last direct male descendant of the Hasmoneans and killed the rest of the family. 17 Bava Basra 3b and Kiddushin 70b. 18 Bava Basra 3b. 19 See Gittin 53b-57a for some of the details surrounding these events. Page 2 of 7 Copyright © 2002 Yakov Shafranovich. All rights reserved. Do not distribute or copy without permission of the author. them the kingship over the Jewish people20. In this brief article, we seek to discuss the Halachic status of Herod and his descendants as seen from the Talmud, Rishonim and various commentators. II. Herod’s Father. According to many sources Hyrcanus, son of Yannai, had an advisor named Antipater who was Herod’s father21. He had five children including Herod and he got them appointed to various positions throughout the country. During the reign of Shlomtzion, Hyrcanus’s mother, Antipater assisted with the governance of the Trans-Jordan region22 and since Shlomtzion considered him “a friend of the crown”, it is assumed that he led an observant lifestyle23. Concerning his status, one opinion24 holds that he was a descendant of the Edomites that Hyrcanus’s grandfather, Jochanan Hyrcanus, forcibly converted. Thus, he was considered a slave to the House of the Hasmoneans25.
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